Speaker Pelosi and other congressional leaders released a video this week announcing official hubs for online congressional video on YouTube.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President-elect Barack Obama is not the Washington pol capable of a little tech savvy. In a sign of the increasing influence of the Internet on politics, Congress has officially established a presence on YouTube.

“Hello, YouTube,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, says in a nearly two-minute YouTube clip announcing the new online video bulkheads for the legislative branch of the federal government. Reid is joined in the announcement video by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky; and House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

“While we may not see eye to eye on everything, one thing we can agree on is the importance of utilizing technology to communicate with our constituents,” Pelosi says in the video.

“Some of us have been posting original video content [on YouTube] for years now,” Boehner says. “YouTube and other new media tools have let us provide you with a level of access and transparency that has never been seen before in government,” added the House GOP leader.

soundoff(26 Responses)

In da Burgh

Yes we doo need new ways to communicate, but something like YouTube is a One-Way street. Can you say Propaganda ?

I did have a good experience recentlty though when Rep. Murphy (Pa.) held a Town Hall Meeting via conference call on the Big Three bailout.. They had over 12,000 people listening in. The only problem was getting an open mike to make comments because of time constraints.